Middah of the Month: Sh’Vat

Judaism nurtures our purpose in life to make this world a better place (tikkun olam). The individual and lifelong work of cultivating character traits (tikkun middot) is central to the work of repairing the world.

The Hebrew root of savlanut (patience) means to bear or suffer, the ability to hold emotional discomfort. Ca’as (anger) is the quintessence of emotional discomfort.

Rav Wolbe uses the image of carrying a load to describe Savlanut. Each relationship we have comes with a certain load we need to carry … to stay in the relationship. We need Savlanut to deal with our own baggage and that of our children, partners, parents and friends.

Dr. Alan Morinis uses the metaphor of a lit match and a fuse. We practice Savlanut by extending the distance between the match and the fuse.

During the month of August (Av) we focus our Mussar practice on being aware of and taking into account, our soul’s ability to “Mind our Head.” Let us take notice of those moments in our lives when we can move through space and time with deliberate purpose and accurate measure.

Worship With Us

Services are Fridays at 7:30 or Saturdays at 10AM; check the calendar or give us a call to find out this week's schedule.